Anachronism
by BubbleBender
Summary: The gang's been thrown a 100 years in the future to find out something's wrong. Setting aside the Fire Nation being in charge and vampiric earthbenders, the new Avatar and how they're being treated. Wait, that is all the wrong stuff. Well, time to save an
1. History Lessons

Anachronism

((Has edited it))

I'll take a crack at writing again. So, as a warning, it's not a hundred percent that I'm going to continue this but I really am going to try and I will _try_ to update once a week every Saturday. Give or take a day occasionally. And ignoring the fact today isn't a Saturday.

**Disclaimer:** No ownership on anything except on Kita and Akeo.

((Notes from yours truly))

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Enjoy n.n Er…you'll figure out the title! If not I'll explain later. Oh right! Sorry if the beginning is a little confusing and choppy. Sadly, it's the best our of…what? Five or six tries? Laugh now and not in the review. Thanks n.n

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
**Chapter One: History Lesson  
**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Aang slowly opened his eyes. He woke up because that's what most people do when they feel cold air on their face with the feeling of falling. "Wha—?" He gasped. They were falling. Very, very fast towards an unfriendly looking patch of ground, too. He looked around to see they were not very high in the air. Quickly, Aang activated an air bubble around all of them just before they hit the ground. "Whaa—!" The force caused the bubble to burst but it managed to break the fall enough so Aang was thrown a few feet forward. Sokka and Katara landed in a heap by a rock, Prince Zuko and Haru by a tree. The odd girl that attempted to capture him landed in a bush a few feet from Appa and Momo.

"Ow!" Sokka yelled, his eyes opened and he saw Katara. "Katara! Are you—"

"I'm fine." Katara muttered, rubbing her head and getting off her brother. "How's everybody else?"

"Get off of me!" Zuko yelled, shoving Haru off.

"Hey! Not my fault that demented girl knocked me out!"

"I can here ye all!" Snapped a redhead, sitting up from the bush. "It's a miracle this didn't break!" She jumped up from the bush and slipped off the giant sword from her back. "Wow…whoever saved us; I'm forever in their debt." She slipped it back on.

"Uh…your welcome?" Said Aang.

"Where are we?" Haru looked around. The sky was a clear blue and they could hear a bird chirping; very different from the foggy beach they had been on. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Katara joined the center of the clearing with Haru and Aang. "All I can remember is a bright flash of light after we got thrown into the water."

"Well that's helpful." Zuko spat sarcastically. He sniffed the air. "We're nowhere near an ocean."

"Course we're not!" The redhead had an odd accent like her left eye. The right was gray while her left eye had vertical split of gray and green. "We're in me home. Obviously I wasn't dreaming when I met you folks. So that means I was thrown back in time then. I guess…."

"What?" Sokka snorted, "You were thrown back in time? Sorry. Not possible."

"I wish," the girl sighed. She wore black armor that looked a little like regular clothing. It went down to her wrists and ankles, meeting ankle-high shoes and black gloves. "If it isn't, explain how I found Aang. He's the Avatar before—"

"For the last time; you are _not_ the Avatar!" Zuko snapped. "You were not thrown back in time like you were moaning about moments before we were taken by that light, we're in our time, and Aang's the only Avatar."

"Then how do you explain this?" Kita snapped back, hurling a fireball at Zuko and then a rock that was ten feet away from her. "Prove that!'

Zuko dodged both easily. "You're a Firebender and you had the rock in your pocket."

She huffed up a little. "Look, I can prove to you I was thrown into your timeline and now you're in mine."

"How many times do we have to tell you that's impossible?" Sokka snapped, joining the fight.

The other three, Haru, Katara and Aang watched from the sidelines. "Think we should break it up?" Haru asked.

"Nah," Katara shook her head, "I want to see if Zuko's stubbornness can be outmatched by my brother." Even though this was a rather serious situation, Katara couldn't help but find the argument amusing.

Aang laughed, "That might take a while, Katara."

"Probably." Katara nodded.

"Look," The redhead called Kita snapped again, "I got thrown back a hundred years! I can prove I was thrown back! I know things only you guys would know! Sokka," She turned to Sokka, "You almost got a shot at a girl named Yue—"

"Stop now." Sokka's voice and face suddenly changed. "I suggest you stop now before you cross any more lines." The atmosphere took on a new feel.

"What? Worried I'm right?"

Sokka glared.

"All right," Kita shrugged and turned to Aang, not aware or ignoring the lines she was crossing. "You managed to freeze yourself where you woke up a hundred years later." She turned to Haru, "You were busted by an ungrateful old man who ratted you out for earthbending after you saved him. You," She pointed at Zuko, her finger an inch from his nose. "You received that lovely scar—"

Zuko hand shot out and grabbed her wrist and applied a large amount of pressure. Kita showed no sign of it hurting but he knew it did. "You want to stop. Now." His voice reached a deadly whisper and his eyes were narrow slits, sparkling with hate.

Kita gave him a cocky smirk, masking the pain, "You still don't believe me." She wrenched her hand from his grip with a little difficulty. "You all still think I'm crazy and I'm lying. I'll prove to you the Fire Nation has conquered, that I'm the Avatar and you're whole lives are in books." She walked towards a small break in the bushes and turned to Katara. "Oh yah, the fortune teller was right. You did get with a powerful bender."

This caught Katara off guard. "Oh yah? Who?" She folded her arms, staring Kita straight into the eye. Katara was half hoping to prove Kita was crazy and the other half was hoping she'd actually know the answer to the question.

Kita smirked, "Let's go to the city. I can prove it to you completely. Seeing is believing."

Zuko followed her, wanting to prove she was insane. Sokka also followed her, determined as Zuko to show she was wrong. "Hang on," Aang ran up to Appa, "I'll be back soon, okay boy? Don't leave." He ran after the others.

"You're lucky we managed to land in a private area." Kita said to Aang, "Belongs to Akeo. It's where he teaches me earthbending sometimes. Luckily, before I got thrown to you guys for maybe an hour or two, he had to leave for a week of solitary training."

They walked through bushes and weaved through trees until they could hear the bustling sounds of people walking through streets and the chatter of friends. Kita was leading them to the edge. "See?"

She pointed to a slight opening in the forest. "How do we not know we just landed in some Fire Nation city?" Demanded the ever-skeptic Sokka.

Kita sighed. "Fine, watch." She stepped out of the forest and onto the cobble-stone streets.

Within seconds, people flocked to her. "Avatar Kita!" Gasped one. "You've been missing for two weeks!" Exclaimed another. "Are you all right?" Asked a little kid.

"Two weeks?" Kita looked surprised.

"Yes!" Nodded a civilian. "Where have you been? It's Victory Week! We can't celebrate our victory without you!"

"I've been out looking for Flying Bison. To make sure that rumors are true. It is. Now, I must go. Bye!" Kita darted from the crowd and back into the forest. The others looked skeptic still except for Aang, who looked stunned. "Happy?"

"No!"

Everybody turned to the voice. It was Aang who said this.

"No! I'm not happy with this!" He turned around and ran back to the clearing.

"Aang!" Katara yelled out.

"Ignore them! They're practicing for the play!" Kita ordered, sticking her head out of the forest before running after the others. "What does it take to satisfy you people?" Kita groaned.

"Aang!" Katara had caught up with the Air Nomad, "Aang? What's—"

"What's wrong? What's wrong!" Aang's eyes were wide with fury. "I'll tell you what's wrong! If what I just saw was true, that means I missed _another_ hundred years and I wasn't there to stop the Fire Nation from taking over the world! That's what's wrong!" Aang's eyes were beginning to glow blue like his arrow tattoos. "Am I destined to let the world fall apart! You saw how your world was! It wouldn't have been like that if I hadn't disappeared! Now look! The Fire Nation is in charge!" A great gust of wind blew out in all directions causing everybody, except Appa and Momo, to be blown backwards.

"What are you talking about!" Kita yelled over the howling wind, "You died fifteen years ago! I have proof! You fought the Fire Nation and you lost!"

The wind died down and Aang crumpled to the ground. Kita walked up to Aang and looked down at him. "How can I know you won't be lying?" His voice sounded hopeless. Katara made a step toward Aang but Haru stopped her and shook his head.

Kita's expression changed. She knelt down, "Real easily." She looked at the ground and focused. A small chunk of dirt rose into the air. "I'm still learning earthbending. That's why I have some green on me armor." She said this, indicating the green tank-top like shirt on and short-shorts that clung to the armor for decoration.

"That doesn't prove anything! Haru can do that!" Sokka snapped.

"Oh, so Haru can do this too?" Kita let the chunk of earth slowly rotate when four tiny balls of flame appeared around it. This caused some eyebrows to rise. "See? I'm the Avatar, Aang died fighting fifteen years ago like you guys did. There is a little room I can lead you guys to if you want." She stood up. "This is what I've been trying to prove to you guys!"

Aang looked up. "Really?" He still sounded a tad doubtful.

Kita nodded. "Hang on a sec. I have to give you guys all fake names and Aang," she ripped her gloves off. "Now we just need to find you a hat. We'll make up some excuse about the tattoos when we need to. The only person we really need to worry about is me cousins, siblings and father. Other than that, we're fine."

----!ilikepagebreakssometimesdoyou!----

Kita led the group down a narrow hall lit by blue orbs. "Okay, you have to promise me something before you read up on your history."

"What?" The group stopped after Kita. She was the barrier between them and 100 percent proof this really was a different time.

"You will not go into an angry rage like earlier. I told you the basics of what you'll find." With that, Kita turned the knob and pushed open the ancient wooden door. It creaked loudly, causing everybody to cringe. They stepped in to be hit by a wave of ancient, musty smells of books and mothballs. "Sorry 'bout the smell." Kita kicked aside a small, cottony looking ball that made a loud clatter once it hit a table. "Mothballs." She sighed. "Take a seat; I'll go get the books. There are only three, so you'll have to share." Kita disappeared behind a dark shelf after shutting the heavy door.

The group sat down, bathed in an orange glow from orbs positioned randomly about the depressingly small room. "Oh yah," Kita called out from behind a shelf, "I'll tell you about your uncle later, Zuko." Kita stepped out, holding three, thick leather-bound books. "They don't say it in here." She placed the books on the heavy wooden table with a dull thud. "This will contain your lives, achievements," she handed one to Katara and Aang, "failures, secrets," one to Haru and Sokka, "And deaths." She handed the last one to Zuko. "Enjoy" Kita chirped and headed off for another shelf.

Everybody at the table glanced at each other before carefully opening the books to read. The paper in the books was old, yellowed and the ink looked faded and feathery. Zuko was silently grateful to have a book to himself. He could read at his own pace without the worry of somebody gasping in his ear or asking him to turn the page. He looked at the table of contents. _Lord Zuko_ was the first thing he spotted. It was followed by _Avatar: The Last Airbender, Mistress of Water, Earth Demon, Faker, _and many other titles but the only other one that interested Zuko was _Savior Azula. _Zuko's face twisted into a great amount of hatred and anger. The prince was about to slam the book shut and toss it across the room but he was too curious to find out how he got the title "Lord." Ignoring the rest of the table of contents, he found the chapter he was looking for on page four. The first thing he spotted was his age of death. "Thirty-six...?" He muttered. It seemed the others found their ages too. He could hear them muttering other numbers such as thirty-five, twenty-nine and thirty-two. It seemed they all died rather young. For a few minutes there was silence, ignoring the page turning, but it was interupted by a loud yell.

"Ewww!" Aang recoiled back from the book a little, his tongue sticking out.

"Gross!" Katara looked mortified.

"What?" Everybody else looked up.

Kita appeared upside down, hanging from the low ceiling with an evil smile and looked at Katara. "Found it?" She had her arms folded.

"Ah!" Everybody--except Zuko--jumped from her sudden appearance. ((I've always wanted to do that...))

"Found what?" Haru asked.

"That Katara _did_ get a powerful bender. She and Aang just read her choices." Kita's smile widened but then became a slight frown. "But you died before revealing who it was." Kita dropped onto the table, landing on her feet. "Keep on readin'. You'll never find out who." She jumped off the table. "Sorry for knocking off some years." Kita sat next to Haru with her own book. "I have me book now. No need to worry about me dropping from the ceiling again."

Haru gave Kita a susipicious look before returning to the book. "Done with this page?" He asked. Sokka nodded and turned the page. Apparently he, Haru, was the one who died at age thirty-two. They were reading his chapter, _Earth Demon_, first since it was the only one they could identify out of them all. "Who do you think Faker is?"

"Don't know," Sokka shrugged, "We'll find out when we're done with this chapter." Sokka was still in a snappy attitude but who wouldn't be in this scenario?

Katara was in deep thought. Aang said he wanted to read her history first since he was the last to die out of them all. Kita was proof of this that Aang died last. It seemed that she died at age twenty-nine and she did fall for a powerful bender. She had three choices: Haru, Aang and Zuko. Zuko was the part that mortified her and got Aang to nearly barf. Aang was also grossed out but rather happy to know he was a one of Katara's choices.

Many hours of reading later, once everybody had read up on their histories, a knock on the door caused everyone to jump including Kita and Zuko. "Kita?" It was the gentle voice of her eldest cousin, Eeshi. They noticed she didn't have an accent like Kita. She opened the door. "What are you doing down here?" Eeshi was clothed in a short gray sleeved shirt that was over a very tight dark gray long-sleeved shirt and a dress that matched her short-sleeved shirt. Her eyes were gray as well and her black hair was in a braid down to her ankles. To top it off, she had a giant bow slung over her shoulders.

"Oh, hi, Eeshi." Kita smiled and waved. "I was just showing these people the histories of who they're dressed up as." She said the lie coolly as if it were the truth. "They want to make sure they'll have it right for the contest later."

"Oh," Eeshi nodded. Her wary face showed a smile, "Well, if your guests wish to stay here, they may." Eeshi was about to leave but stopped, "Actually, you should come out. Master Akeo wishes to continue the earthbending class. You've missed two weeks and he's gotten very worried." Kita's face changed its hue a little. "Oh, and, Muro," Muro was the name Kita gave to Aang, "Be sure to remove that hat and gloves before entering the contest." She gave them a smile and shut the door.

Kita looked at the others. They seemed a little numb after reading their histories. "Aang," Kita waved a hand in front of his face, "Aren't you needing to learn earthbending?"

"What's the point?" He looked away and hugged his knees, "The Fire Nation's won."

"So?" Kita put her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow, "Doesn't give you the right to give up. C'mon, we're going outside. You guys should come. Fresh air might do you some good."

"Yah," Sokka gingerly got up, "Fresh air polluted by the Fire Nation."

The others got up except Aang and Zuko. "What?" Kita cocked her head.

"Nothing." Aang sighed and got up to joing Katara.

"What about you, Lord?" Kita asked, walking up to Zuko.

He got up. The prince was a few inches taller than Kita so she had to look up. "Don't ever call me that." He hissed before joining the others. He had no point in life now. The Avatar didn't need to be captured because Lord Ozai was gone now. Their histories went mostly into the battles they had gone into and how they felt when their friends died. He couldn't believe it. He, Prince Zuko, befriended the Avatar and the lowly peasants that aided him? That was impossible. Not only that, it was hinting he had been hoping for more than friendship between Katara. He mentally shuddered at the thought and followed them to the outside.

"Avatar Kita!" A young man yelled out once they were outside. He had messy black hair and very green eyes. His skin was deeply tanned and he wore a long-sleeved green shirt under a brown tunic and matching pants.

"Master Akeo," Kita bowed.

The Master earthbender Akeo bowed in return. He looked very young, not much older than seventeen. "Knyght Eeshi told me I would be teaching another pupil?"

Kita nodded, "Muro! C'mon!"

Aang glumly walked forward and bowed. Akeo bowed in return. "All right, let's begin. We can start over there."

"Okay. Hang on a sec," Kita ran up to Katara and the other boys. "Ask Eeshi about our homeland. It'll make her feel better and she might tell you more history, okay?" She ran off to a giant tree where Akeo and Aang were sitting.

Katara glanced at Eeshi after a moment. "Excuse me, Knyght?" She approached the woman. She was already curious to why the lady had "Knyght" in her name and was wondering what a Knyght was.

"Yes," Knyght Eeshi bowed, "I am a Knyght. Do you wish to speak to me?"

"Uh...yah." Sokka joined his sister.

"We were wondering if you could tell us about your original homeland. Avatar Kita already told us some things." Katara tried Kita's suggestion.

"You wish to learn about Kitonae Island?" Eeshi's expression brightened.

They nodded. Zuko and Haru remained silent. To be honest, they were both depressed. Haru's family was dead but he wasn't going to cry in front of everybody. Zuko had no meaning of existence now so he was currently a walking shell of anger and depression. ((He wasn't before?)) "Oh, sit down then. I'll gladly answer any of your questions." She knelt. The others followed suit. "So, what is your first question? Do you know of anything? I don't want to tell you anything you may already know." Her voice was ever so gentle and feathery that it made them feel a little safe regardless of what was going on.

"It was founded around the time of Avatar Kyoshi." Haru said after a moment. "Right?"

"Yes." Eeshi nodded, "Very good. Anything else?" The others shook their head. "Well, since you seem to know very little of Kitonae, our warriors are very different and everybody is trained to be a Knyght. That is what we call our warriors." She stared at Kita, who was currently sitting cross legged, trying to keep a chunk of dirt orbiting a stationary piece of dirt. Her gaze returned to the others. "Her training's to be complete once she is sixteen. Then you'll have to address her as Avatar Knyght Kita." Once again, they nodded.

"People who live on the shores of the island are most likely to be waterbenders. Those who live in the forest part, earthbenders, those in the prairies are firebenders. There are rumors of airbenders in the mountains but nobody ever returns when they go to investigate."

"Actually, I have a question." Sokka said before Eeshi opened her mouth.

"Yes?" She wasn't offended and seemed glad that somebody had a question.

"Ki—Avatar Kita's weapon is really different compared to the others I've seen. So is yours...are they custom-made?" Sokka was interested in the weaponry even though he considered Kita's sword ridiculous.

"They are custom made. All weapons on Kitonae are custom made. Once a person is capable of walking, they are placed in the center of many weapons. Some things others might not think of as a weapon. They are to walk up to one and then it is forged with their blood. It's like---"

"You little kid!" Kita yelled. Aang was laughing his head off. "He just said to hold the mud! Not throw it!" Aang had skittered up a tree as a mud-covered Kita yelled at him.

"Uh oops?" He hung upside down with a goofy grin on his face.

"Avatar Kita! Muro!" Akeo's voice was currently filled with poorly covered up amusement. "Both of you! Drop down and give me twenty-five! Now!"

"Huh?" Aang was hanging from the tree like a sloth but with one arm hanging on to the tree instead of both.

"Push-ups." Kita hissed before falling down to the ground. "One...two..."

Eeshi sighed. "Where were we? Oh yes! Weapons! The weapons are like our own limbs. We only know how to use the ones we're issued. If you handed me Kita's sword, besides the difficulty holding it up right, I wouldn't know how to use it. I only use my bow and arrow and daggers. We also have a different form of martial arts. Kita has been taught the arts of the spider and cat. I've tried teaching her wolf but she doesn't seem to interested. I myself have been taught spider and monkey."

"So," Katara spoke up, "When did the Fire Nation find Avatar Kita?"

"When she was three. They took her and us to the capital when she was ten so she could complete certain Knyght training."

"C'mon Muro! You can do better than that!" Kita had finished her push-ups and now she and Akeo were trying to get Aang to complete the twenty-five.

"You can stop now." Akeo ordered, still sounding amused.

Aang jumped up. "Thanks...now what are we gonna do?"

Akeo sat down again, "We're starting this again. This time, no mud."

"Aww..."

Akeo smiled, "That's the next meeting."

----!itsapagebreakagain!----

"I hope you guys don't mind sharing the same room." Kita led them down the hall. "We have a curfew here. You have less than an hour to get home once it's dark and well, it's kind of past an hour."

"Kita," Aang walked up to the Kitonae Islander, "I have question…"

"Yes?"

"If you're the Avatar…why aren't you stopping the Fire Nation? They've taken over and—"

"The Avatar's duty is to keep balance. Aye, I know." She shrugged and put her hands on her head, "They aren't doing anything too nasty. They seem to be keeping order. And I can't leave this place without permission or anything. I'm not even allowed to use bending until I've mastered them all."

"But there's no Airbender to teach you. So that's basically saying that you can't use your bending." Katara pointed out.

Kita shrugged. "The world's at peace for now. I'm neither pro or con for the Fire Nation. Here's your room." Kita stopped in front of the door. "See you guys tomorrow. Appa's in there, just to let you know." She turned around and walked off.

"Wait," Sokka called out. Kita turned around. "How do you not know we won't just run away in the middle of the night?"

"Let's think about this logically, shall we? You're stranded in a time period you know little of, Victory Week's gonna end and what are you gonna do then dressed like that? Also, this place is guarded so well, the only ones allowed out are people with either me permission or anybody in me family and you only know of Eeshi and her kids. Don't forget, they're eight so not many are going to listen to them." She bowed, "Enjoy your sleep. We'll plan in the morning. Good night." She walked off.

Katara opened the door and poked her head in. There were three beds on one side and two on the other. "Well, sleeping arrangements are covered."

"I swear that girl is crazy." Sokka stated as he stepped in. "She expects us to sleep in the same room as Zuko? I thought she made it clear she knew we hated each other!"

"Maybe she's hoping we'll become friends like we did in those books?" Aang shrugged and patted Appa, who licked him as a greeting. "I missed you too, boy."

"Yah, but we're in a totally different scenario. Remember what it said about how that friendship formed? We were in the middle of a war. We joined forces to stay alive."

"But we became friends in the end." Aang pointed out. His cheery nature returned. Throwing mud at your reincarnation can do that to you sometimes.

"So? We're not in the middle of a war now are we?"

Aang shrugged. They all looked at Zuko. He had taken no part of the conversation. He had decided to pick a bed and just lie on it face-up. He didn't bother with the covers; he just closed his eyes and was already asleep. "That's just freaky." Sokka shook his head. "Whatever. Katara, sleep there." He pointed to one of the two beds. Katara opened her mouth to protest but figured she'd let her brother be a big brother. Just this once.

Haru shrugged, drained from the history lesson and flopped back onto a bed. Maybe he'd take an earthbending class tomorrow with the Avatars. At least they learned how to keep Kita, or any Kitonae Islander, under control if she got on their nerves: Touch her weapon. _We could probably have fun with that,_ the boy thought as he yawned. He was too tired to even cry about his deceased family. He could feel the familiar rocking feeling of sleep and the world slowly drifted away and he was floating to his dream land….

…To then be painfully brought back by a shrill scream. "What?" Haru jumped up to look around. The room was dark but a sudden flame appearing in Zuko's hand lit the room up with an orange glow. "What was that?" Haru was on his feet, wide awake like the others. ((Always the others…sound like Lost anybody? No; this won't be based on Lost FYI))

"I don't know bu—"

"Everybody up and awake?" Kita had opened the door, causing light to pour in.

They nodded after shielding their eyes from the sudden light change.

"Good! Somebody snuck in…as you can tell, they got someone. I suggest you gather yorr stuff up and follow me."

"What about Appa?" Aang asked.

"Look behind your bison, lad."

Aang did. There was a pair of giant doors.

"Just open it and he'll wait outside. I'm sure he's that smart. I'll meet you guys at the end of the hall." With that, Kita ran off.

After opening the doors and forcing Appa out, they were now running down the hall. They saw Kita and she had her giant sword out. "Have you figured out who got attacked?" Asked Haru.

Kita shook her head. "Follow me; we'll meet the others outside in the courtyard where we were earlier. Me family's already out there." She then stepped out the door into another hall but she only got a few feet before slipping. She caught herself on the wall that was the fork to three different halls.

The others slipped like her. "What was tha—?" Aang stopped when he looked down. The floor had some red smears about the golden tiles. It was blood. Not too much, but enough to make traction change.

Kita looked down the hall to her left. She picked her sword up and held her arm out. "Don't." She ordered. She turned the corner. "Well, lads and lass," Kita reappeared after a few seconds. "We've got ourselves an assassin on our hands."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
**End of Chapter One **OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

There yah go! Yes. Kita's accent is Irish. Go Irish! Woot. Oh, right. Definition for "Anachronism":

"A person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age"

Thank you dictionary (dot) com! Perfect for them, no? If you made it through this chapter, congrats! I'm amazed people could survive such bad writing. Well, when you review, no flames. Kay? Thanks! Er…I was gonna say something else but I forgot. Just, you know…press the blue button!

You know you want to! n.n


	2. Master Thief

Yo.

**Disclaimer:** Stop assuming she owns Avatar: The Last Airbender! There is no ownership!

Oh yah. Earth Demons are like vampires, only, you know, not. Also; go badly written fight scenes!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
**Chapter Two: Master Thief  
**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"How do you know it's an assassin?" Sokka asked as they jogged to the courtyard. They would have ran except Kita was a slow runner and she was the only one who knew the way to the court yard. "And can't you run any faster?"

"You carry a big-arse sword!" She snapped. "I've seen those wounds before. This guy's been around for a while now and if you hadn't noticed, their trade-mark was carved into the person's back." Kita turned a corner.

"That's just gross." Sokka remembered seeing the body. He glanced at Katara. She didn't seem affected by it like he was worried about. Aang did look a little pale. "To think we've seen bloodier things. Well, sorta."

They reached a large set of doors and opened them to see Eeshi fighting a masked man. Eeshi didn't notice Kita and the others arriving but the man did. He smirked. "Is it just me, or does that guy have big teeth?" Aang asked, pointing out the longer and sharper canine teeth poking out from his upper lip.

He let out a hiss and jumped at Eeshi. She attempted to jump back but other than his teeth, his jumps seemed bigger as well. Zuko realized Eeshi was likely to loose the fight so he decided to interfere. He formed a large ball of fire and threw it at the masked man. It hit him square in the back. He let out yell and rolled off of Eeshi. "He's a threat; we're not enemies right now." Zuko said in monotone.

The man jumped up. "I am. You aren't." His voice was like dry wood. He looked at the ground and summoned a large bit of earth and threw it at the group. This caused them all to jump out of the way as it hit the doors. Like all unconscious people, Eeshi did nothing. "Oh what fun this'll be." Even though he was ten yards away, they could all smell something like decay and it was coming from him. His pale skin stood out very much because of his pure-black outfit. "I'm fighting the Avatar and little wannabes of those who tried to defeat the Fire Nation." Haru, Zuko and Kita had jumped to one side and Katara, Aang and Sokka to another. Lucky for Katara, she managed to land next to a pond. "I guess I'll get a meal and a work-out to burn off the weight." His hair and eyes resembled black ice.

Kita sat up and blinked. "Great…" she muttered, "a cannibalistic assassin."

"He could be a fake." Zuko muttered and rubbed his neck. The fall from the stairs wasn't too high but it was enough to cause pain. "You're not always right."

"Now's not the time," Kita growled and jumped up. She looked down at Haru. "You all right, Earth Demon?" She asked smirking at the title he was given in the history book.

Haru shakily got up to see the man standing still. "What's he doing now?"

The man heard him. "I'm deciding who to kill and who to take back to the group." His eyes landed on Haru. "You'd make a lovely addition." His eyes rested on Kita. "I've always wondered what Avatar blood was like."

Katara took this moment because the invader had his back turned to her. She sent a ball of ice at him. It seemed he wasn't expecting this because he was thrown forward and he didn't necessarily land on his feet but more of his face. Kita looked at Katara, "Nice one." She nodded.

"Thanks." Katara picked up the shards of the ice and brought them to her and created many tiny ice balls that spun around her hand and wrist. "Are you sure he's an assassin? He doesn't seem to be trying too hard."

"Aye!" Kita snapped, "He's got a uniform that's the same as some other guy we caught."

"He's not very good to let there be witnesses." Sokka muttered.

"I don't leave witnesses," the man jumped back up, "They get killed or kidnapped." He smirked. "So, you can either die or join me."

"Kita?" The familiar voice of Akeo filled the air. "Kita! Are you all right? I came here as fast as I could!" He ran out from the forest. His outfit was different. Instead of brown, it was now black and green. Once Akeo spotted them he attempted to stop but wound up tripping over his own feet and falling flat on his face.

Kita shook her head. "Akeo, I'd prefer—"

The man suddenly burst into laughter that resembled breaking bones. "That's the great earthbending Master Akeo? And to think we were thinking of having him join!'

Akeo jumped up and wiped the mud off his face. Akeo didn't bother speaking with his mouth but instead let his bending to the talking. He managed to hit the man in the chest. "Well?" He looked at the others. "Are you going to just stand there or fight?"

"They're useless and a waste of my time. Except for that boy dressed as Haru the Earth Demon. I can sense potential in him. And maybe even you."

Sokka groaned. "Do you ever stop talking?"

"Once I get what I've come for." His eyes darted between Akeo and Haru. They settled on Haru. "I now know who I'll spare. I hope the rest of you had a decent living." The man flicked his wrist and the ground beneath Aang and the others split open into a craggy mouth, attempting to swallow them all up. "Oops." The man said sarcastically and turned to Akeo. "Nice trick, make them think it's somebody else you're after." He winked and grabbed Akeo's wrists, "Time to join the other Earth Demons. Oh, you'll enjoy. Set aside the blood lust and exhaustion at day, your powers increase by plenty." The man's voice was somewhat sarcastic. "Besides, we need a new test subject." He grinned, his fangs sparkled in the starlight. "It seems that Avatar can't handle a small crack in the earth." He looked at the crag and made his arm cut across the air with dirt following the motion and made sure plenty of it went over the crack. Akeo struggled with the grip but this man was obviously strong.

_Why are the bad-guys always in black and super strong?_ Akeo complained silently and lifted his foot, planning to slam it into the ground and cause a small earthquake. The man knew this and laughed.

"Don't bother, kid." He kicked Akeo in the leg. "I'm getting impatient and this took longer that I expected. Now, let's go before I decide to close that crack and crush her as well."

----!Page Break!----

"Aye-ah!" Kita groaned. "How long have we been out?" She clutched her head.

"It's still dark, so who knows?" Haru sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. The man had dumped a load of dirt on them. "Who am I sitting on?" He blinked and realized this when he felt something move under him.

"Me!" Sokka snapped. He pushed himself up, causing Haru to fall over and slide down the large pile of dirt and nearly crash into Aang.

"Man…why are the new and mysterious bad guys always super strong and wear black? Can't they wear bright pink and be weak?" Aang groaned, rubbing his head.

Kita looked around. "Where's L—Prince Zuko?" Kita was pretty sure nobody was within hearing so she could call everybody by their respected names.

Sokka straightened up. "Why didn't anybody come outside to help us? What about that cousin of yours? Yeeshi? Meeshi—"

"Eeshi." Kita corrected curtly. "I don't know. She probably looked into this thing and didn't see us because of the dirt and poor lighting."

"Well," Katara was the first one standing, "There's only one thing to do: Get out of this thing." Already, the determined girl was pulling herself up the dirt walls.

Kita shakily got up, "Need a boost, Mistress of Water?" Her voice had a trace of mocking in it.

"No," Katara's foot "accidentally" slipped and sent some dirt clogs at Kita, who was just below her; she didn't like being called "Mistress of Water" much. Kita got hit in the shoulder by one but the harmlessly fell to the ground. After a couple minutes of struggling, she made it to the top as the others attempted to climb up as well.

In a few minutes time of climbing, the rest were on the top but there was still no Prince Zuko. "I'd expect the sneaking off into the night be more of your thing, Earth—"

"Haru." Haru cut her off.

"All right, something from you, Haru." Kita looked around. "No lights. Must've evacuated everybody and checked this spot out already. Eeshi's gone and so is Master Akeo…" Kita noted. "Maybe they're looking for us?"

"I don't know," Sokka shrugged, "How about you tell us a safe place for us and we just leave so you don't have to worry about us getting you in trouble."

"Works for me." Aang said with a shrug. Being around Kita did give him an odd feeling but that was probably because she was him in a different form. "Katara?"

She shrugged. She hadn't been talking much lately. ((This is probably because the author can't match Katara's coolness.)) "Well, even though Aang technically died, we should still find him an earthbending Master."

"Pfft. Good luck." Snorted the female Avatar. "Akeo's the best. Why else do you think he's teaching?"

"Best or the only one willing to teach?" Sokka asked, hoping to get a reaction out of her. He didn't like her for many reasons. She was the Avatar and seemed to like the Fire Nation and the Avatar should not work for such a corrupt system was one of those reasons.

Kita ignored him. "There are very few Masters these days. The only ones I can think of is somebody on Kitonae Island. The other Master I know of; he won't be willing. He's leading a rebellion against the Fire Nation. Taking it over for his grand-dad. Please tell me you don't honestly think he'd help."

"Well, we don't like the Fire Nation much. You should know." Katara put her hands on her hips.

"True, but I think you'll have trouble persuading him. The Fire Nation's sent spies. They get some of them back a week later. It takes maybe a month to get them back completely."

"Ew." Aang cringed at the thought. "Where _is_ Zuko?" Aang asked, looking around, changing the subject.

"Right here." Zuko appeared from behind some rocks.

"Where have you been?" Kita asked. Her lips thinned to form an annoyed expression.

"Trying to see if the assassin left anything behind."

"Well, did he?" Asked Katara. She didn't like Zuko but this was beginning to turn into a case of I'll-kill-you-once-we-know-exactly-what's-going-on.

"Yes." Zuko was holding a piece of green cloth. "I didn't see him wearing any green."

Kita's eyebrows rose. "He's got Akeo?"

"Something else—"

"Avatar Kita!" A man came rushing down the ruined steps. "Avatar Kita!" He repeated again and reached the Kitonae Islander. He bowed, "We have discovered a ransom note," Zuko instantly hid the green cloth behind his back, "The man that had come here kidnapped Master Akeo."

Her eyebrows rose and she managed to not gasp. Bowing, "thank you, Guard Bizo. You may go."

The guard nodded and ran back up the steps to the castle.

"He's toying with us." She stated once the guard was out of ear-shot.

"What makes you say that?" Asked Katara, taking the green cloth from Zuko when he revealed it again. "Are you sure that—" She stopped. "Is this what you were about to show us?" She asked, looking at the other side of the cloth. It had blood on it.

Zuko nodded.

"He killed him?" Aang's eyes widened.

"He's luckier if they did." She grabbed the green fabric and examined it. "I think he's either toying with us to make us think he's turned Akeo into an Earth Demon or wants me to go after him."

"And lemme guess," began Sokka, "You're going to?"

"Duh. I need to learn earthbending and he's the only one. The one on Kitonae Island is for those on Kitonae Island only and I'm not on there am I?"

"Then how are you going to get him?" Asked Aang.

Kita thought for a moment. "No clue." She sighed. "I don't think I'll find him easily. I guess I could tell you guys where to go for an earthbending master for Aang." She thought for a moment. "You'll still need a hat and gloves, lad."

"I still have the gloves." Aang reached into his shirt and pulled out the gloves. He slipped them on. They fit him as if they were his own skin. "Kinda freaky how they stick like skin."

Kita shrugged. "One size fits all." Her face was set at a frown. "I think I can pull of another supposed sneak away…it's still dark…no lights are on but that guard did see us."

"Then we'd better hurry." That was Katara.

They all looked at Zuko. He really didn't want to be stuck with his enemies. Not only that, the cruel irony of him now capable of getting the Avatar yet, as he kept telling himself in his mind over and over, what was the use? _Well,_ he thought, _Maybe I can find some isolated spot for me to live. Or kill myself. As long as it's isolated at it looks like the only way I can do this is joining them….I'm more likely to get struck by lightening than them letting me ride on that flea-covered bison._

"Zuko's coming." Kita stated. "He has to. We can't let him wander around this close to the capitol." She looked around. A guard house was now lit. "We'll probably have to leave now. I'll go sneak some supplies. I'll meet you guys with that flying bison thing, Agga or—"

"Appa." Corrected Aang.

"Right. Appa. Meet you guys there in twenty minutes."

----!Page Break!----

"I thought Knyghts were brave." Sokka looked down at the crouched form of Kita. She was clinging onto the back part of the giant saddle.

Kita gave him a glare, "Shut up, Faker." Regardless of his rudeness, Kita was going to call him by his historical name. "I can't believe I looked up to him…" she muttered very quietly. He was the one she thought of as the coolest out of the whole group. Sure, Katara and the others were interesting, but she liked the way Sokka faked bending.

"So, how long do you think it'll take to get there?" Asked Aang, "And what are you going to do to get back?"

She shrugged, "I told them that I would probably be gone for a little while. What I like about being the Avatar, I get to be one of the most powerful people. That means those guards can't tell anybody where I'm going." She gave an evil, but weak, smirk. She groaned. "I just hate flying apparently so it'll be interesting tell them about the flying bison rumor; especially if they tell me to ride one if I ever find one. I hate flying." She groaned again.

_More like afraid._ Thought Sokka. He turned to Katara, "So, join the rebellion?"

Katara nodded. "I guess. Nothing else and it is what we had done decades ago."

"I can hear you guys! Those rebels are being rather nasty for my liking so joining up with them doesn't seem smart for you or the others. I'll probably tell the guards…" She continued on, her voice muffled by the fact that her face was buried into the saddle.

Aang looked over his shoulder to Sokka. Their eyes looked and Sokka nodded. Aang nodded and quietly said something to Appa. The others took this as a cue to hold on, knowing those two were up to something. "Do you guys know how—Aiiee!" Kita shrieked as Appa mimicked the ocean below them in jerky movements, causing Kita clutch hard enough that her knuckles were white underneath the gloves.

Everybody, except Zuko of course, sniggered, trying to suppress their laughter. Zuko only smirked. Probably one of the only things that made him feel better was the fact that some one who seemed as cocky as Kita could be freaked out by simple movements as the ones Appa just did. "Not funny!" Kita snapped, looking up. She looked rather pale.

Aang knew that wasn't nice but Kita wasn't exactly the most likable person and it was cheering his friends up. "How long do you think it'll take to get there?"

Kita glared and muttered something about ungratefulness. "I don't know." The sun was just starting to rise. "Once the sun is up completely we'll know. Just keep heading east." She straightened up a little. "I'll suggest stopping a mile or two away from the small city. It's not much; everybody's a trained fighter so I suggest to not piss anybody off."

"Never would've guessed." Sokka muttered sarcastically.

"So, Avatar—"

"Kita's fine." She said, cutting Katara off.

"So, Kita, have you figured out a way to find Akeo yet?"

"I'll just ask around. Earth Demon's are probably hiding in the mountains."

"And you expect to find him in two weeks?" Questioned the ever skeptic Sokka.

"Aye." Kita was annoyed with Sokka. "I'm going back to clinging if you don't mind."

"We don't," Sokka replied. Kita rolled her eyes and returned to her semi-fetal position and began to figure out how else to find Akeo.

Haru sighed and hugged his knees for warmth and comfort. _Well, I'll be back home. I guess…I can't believe I died that young. I guess I can start a new life now. I hope that Master will be willing to teach me._ The boy thought and sighed. He was still tired yet he couldn't sleep. _I wonder who Katara picked. Wonder if it was me…_

Zuko realized that regardless of the empty shellness, he still needed sleep. _Great…maybe my dreams will give me ways to kill myself. Then again…I could just fling myself off the bi—no. I still need to know what happened to uncle._ He sighed. "Kita?" He turned to look at the Avatar. She looked up.

"Aye?"

"Are you ever going to tell me about my uncle?" He added impatience to his voice.

She was silent for a moment. "I'll tell you when I have a chance with you alone and when we're not near anything flammable." She set her head down again.

Zuko frowned. "You can tell me right now."

She looked up again, annoyed this time. "No. I can't. I'll tell you later." Her head went back down.

The prince was annoyed now. "I'm—"

"—Telling you later." Kita finished even if that wasn't what he was going to say. "End of discussion." Once again, Kita placed her head down again and did not look up again.

Zuko's frown deepened and he snorted out a jet of steam from his nostrils. _Great; more waiting. It's bad enough to be stuck with them but now I have to wait to find about the fate of the only person who cared for me. I have a right to know._ Zuko sighed and leaned back. He was about to shut his eyes when something jumped onto his stomach. "What the—!"

"Momo!" Katara grabbed the lemur. She wasn't too worried about Zuko but more for Momo. "Don't do that." She scolded.

Zuko glared at her and the lemur before slowly laying down again. He was half hoping that the group would decide to toss him over but he knew they'd never do that. With that, he drifted off to his subconscious mind that we know as Dream Land.

Haru stared at Zuko for a moment. He was a little jealous that the boy could sleep. "So…what are you guys going to do once we find the Master?"

"I don't know," shrugged Sokka. "I guess I'll check out the warriors."

"Besides the earthbending lessons, I guess I'll just explore and learn more about our history." Aang shrugged as he looked over his shoulder. "What about you, Katara?"

"See if there's more than just earthbenders there. Maybe I can learn more waterbending."

"Learn? You're teaching Aang, the Avatar. You're a Master now." Haru said to her.

"True, but you never know. They might have new techniques." She shrugged but was flattered by the comment.

"I wouldn't do that yet you guys." Sokka interrupted the happy little hopes. "Are you sure it's wise to tell these people about us?"

"Are you kidding?" Aang asked, "I think they'd be _happy_ to know that we're the people in the books."

"Uh-uh. How would _you_ react if a bunch of people from the past—people who are long dead—came up to you and said who they really were?"

"I'd believe them after a few questions," replied Aang before returning to stare straight ahead.

"They won't care. Just say you wanna join. Reveal after a while," came Kita's voice for the first time since Zuko's interrogation.

"Define "a while.""

"Months." Kita replied.

"Are you going to stay like that?" Asked Katara, smiling a little at the future Knyght's fear.

"Maybe. Let me think."

"Don't hurt yourself…" Sokka said this of course.

"Go f—"

A seagull flew by and squawked, causing Momo to jump and climb into Katara's hair. Kita's insult had been drowned out.

"Are we sure she's a girl?" Haru asked.

"Who knows? I don't intend on finding out." Replied Sokka.

"Anyway, when we get there, other than earthbending, I guess I'll just explore too." Haru had no idea what else he could do. He sighed. "My death was interesting. What about you guys?" What else could he talk about?

Sokka shifted uncomfortably. He hadn't told his sister how he died. Half of him didn't want to know how she died but the other half did. "Well, Haru knows. You guys don't."

"Pfft. Whatever it was, it was more interesting than mine. I died in my sleep. How boring can you get?" Aang demanded.

"I died protecting _him_." Sokka jerked his head to Zuko. He was a little disgusted at that thought. "It apparently took two stabs and an arrow or two to get me down. Oh yah; and a couple fire blasts. Who could forget that?" He went back to being grouchy. "I still can't believe I died saving that guy's sorry a—"

"More exciting than mine." Aang reminded. "Haru? You wanna talk about it?"

Haru shifted a little, "Sure," he said slowly. "Well, since I was an Earth Demon, I was a lot stronger with my earthbending so I guess that's why the Fire Nation sent dozens soldiers after me. I managed to take out most of them before dying then a bunch more when they killed me. Apparently when you kill and Earth Demon, there's a lot of energy in them and that results in a lot of fissures to from and rocks to shoot out." He sighed and glanced at Katara. Somewhere, so very deep in his mind, even though this was serious, he was hoping that it had impressed her a little.

It was now Katara's turn. "You don't have to if you don't want to." Sokka said to his sister.

"It's okay." Her face was set to an unreadable emotion. She was a little amazed at how calmly they were going about this. Maybe it was part of the shock. "I died fighting too but…" Aang had dropped the glamorous death-thing now. He felt guilty that he died sleeping, not fighting like his friends. He listened silently and with an air of depression. "On second thought, I don't want to talk about it." This just made Aang receive more guilt.

The others nodded. "That's okay," Katara slumped a little but nodded as well.

They turned to see if Zuko was asleep still. His face was set to look as if he were at a funeral. At this point, he had curled up as if he wanted to protect himself. His right hand was splayed out a little but the way his fingers were twitching only spelled out a nightmare. "So, how did Zuko die?" Asked Aang.

'Same way I did only it took longer." Sokka said carelessly. "How can he sleep? It's broad daylight and everything."

"I don't know." Aang shrugged and yawned. "I'm suddenly tired. Sokka, wanna take over?"

"Sure. Why not?" Sokka shrugged and switched places with Aang.

The airbender sat down with Katara and Haru. "I think Kita's asleep too." He whispered.

"I'm not sleeping."

"Oh. Never mind." He stared at Zuko. "Maybe we should alter his dreams…I don't think he's enjoy the one he's in."

"Go right ahead." Haru leaned back.

He looked to Katara. She shook her head. "I'll watch." She smiled.

Aang shrugged. He was about to crawl over to Zuko when the prince bolted up. He blinked. He realized they were still flying and he wasn't re-living the moment that he received his scar. This got Kita's attention. "Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakes. No Prince Charming for you then? Or was Aang deciding to take that roll?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
**End of Chapter Two  
**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

So ends another pointless chapter. Ah well. Sigh, isn't Kita just lovable? ((sarcasm)) Don't worry, it'll get interesting in the next chapter. I think. ((Yawn)) Too tired. Need more caffeine and less insomnia. Oh right. Reviews.

EJ Amber: Thanks. Yah, I'll keep an eye on her, don't worry. Alert me if she's becoming a Sue. But not yet; maybe around the fourth chapter because I can't do much to show all of her yet. As for beta reader…((feels like an idiot))…What are those?

Review please. NO flames. And none of this "I'm sorry, but this is just so horrible…" or anything like that. Please and thank you n.n


	3. Wake Up and Smell the Tea

Howdy ya'll! I don't care if it aint Saturday! …Or about my horrid grammar n.n

**Disclaimer:** Who in their right mind would give these characters to her? Do you they'd want to be owned by this demented person? NO. So no ownership.

Woohoo chapter three! This is moving so slowly and badly. I'm horrid at transition…

…Park means 'cypress tree' for Chinese names n.n And…err, this has _contemplation_ of life ending but nobody does. There. Said it. You've been warned. Oh yes; to all Iroh fans: Blame his fate on _Eragon_! I got it from that book! ((Cowers)) But it's a good book! n.n

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
**Chapter Three: Wake Up and Smell the Tea  
**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It had taken them all most the whole night. They had arrived to the Earth Kingdom but Kita advised for them to land a mile away. "I'll escort you guys past the Fire Nation guards," she told them, "And tell them you're spies. Here," she had bent down and picked up some dirt. "Just put this on your clothes and faces to look battered. The Earth Kingdom is more likely to accept you. Oh, don't use bending until they know who you are, got it?" That was the last thing she said to them as a group. She had then pulled Zuko aside to tell him about his uncle.

Regardless for the dislike towards Zuko, Katara couldn't help but wonder what happened to Zuko's uncle since his expression changed to shock, then anger and then back to non-existent emotions. As soon as she told him that, he looked stunned and then his face was devoid of all emotion. Kita did look sympathetic and said something else to the prince before leaving. "So we just say we're just lost travelers?" Asked Haru after a rather long walk of silence.

"I guess." Katara shrugged. "I wonder how—"

"Halt," yelled a man. Large pieces of earth shot out and had sharp tips pointing towards the gang. They jumped back because these spikes of earth were a little too sharp and close for comfort.

They were surrounded by earthbenders. "Who are you and what's your business here?"

"We're seeking safety." Sokka answered before Katara spoke up. "We're sick of the Fire Nation and we're hoping we could stay here and—"

"Looking for safety? In a rebellion army?" Snorted one of the benders. The one who snorted was a girl.

"Safety from their tyranny and destruction."

"Oh really?"

"Yah and maybe joining?" He glanced at the others. They nodded.

There was some muttering. "We'll take them to the outskirts of the city for tonight. They can be evaluated by Park in the morning." With that, the gang heard the clang of metal and then felt the cold metal. They had been handcuffed. "Follow us, don't talk, don't try to run away and you'll be just fine."

They quietly obeyed. _Kita,_ Sokka thought with high annoyance, _What the hell did you get us into? If anything happens to Katara it'll be you're fault and I don't care if you're a girl. I will hurtyour if something happens to Katara._ Sokka made the angry promise in his mind but kept his face emotionless like Zuko.

It had been a quiet walk. They were shown a very small hut. "You are to stay in there. Don't try anything funny. As you can see, we have many people guarding it. You are to stay there for the rest of the night."

The large and heavy hand cuffs were not removed as they were escorted into the small hut and sat down. "What do you think they do for evaluation?" Aang asked once they were left in the hut; his voice was hardly a whisper.

"Make us eat lemur eyes and Earth Demon teeth." Sokka said sarcastically. Kita had shown them a hiding spot to hide Appa and Momo before leaving. She had promised them on her honor of being a Knyght that she would not take Appa because she had a feeling the Earth Demon base was somewhere among the original Earth Kingdom land. "I don't know." He kept his voice like Aang's and it was like the lungs were being used to speak and not the vocal cords.

"I don't think it's a test of endurance," Haru said. "I think it's more of a loyalty test. I heard there are plants that you can give to people and they'll tell the truth without hesitation. They can even ask you things you don't know and you'll answer if it's a really strong plant."

Zuko was the only who had not joined the small circle. He sat in corner cross legged and sitting perfectly straight and still. Anybody who looked at him would have mistaken him for the perfect sculpture.

"Well, I guess we're okay." Said Katara. "We do want to join them. If they ask who we really are, then there's a problem."

"I wish she warned us about that." Sighed Haru, referring to Kita.

Aang wondered if the guards could hear them even when their conversation was what a bored author would have called lung-talk. The night was dead quiet, not a cricket chirped. "I don't think she thought of it as problem," said Katara after a moment. "I think she might have guessed we would have attempted to find away around that problem and created a bigger one."

"Probably." Sokka agreed. " Or she didn't know about it. I guess we might as well sleep. Being alert's smart." Sokka yawned. "Night." He curled up and fell asleep instantly.

"I guess we might as well," Katara shrugged. "Night." She too curled up and fell asleep rather quickly.

This left Haru and Aang awake. Haru glanced at Aang. "I know this probably isn't—"

"You wanna know how Katara died, right?" Aang asked.

Haru looked down and nodded.

"It's not my choice to tell. I think I'll go to sleep too." Aang curled up fell asleep without saying good night.

----therereallyshouldntbeapagebreakherebutwhocares----

"Wake up!" Barked one of the male guards. He nudged Haru with his boot. "Wake up!" He barked again.

Haru groaned and blinked. "I'm up, I'm up…" he muttered, slowly rising, feeling as if he had only slept for an hour or less. It took him a second to realize where he was. The others were slowly waking up as well. Even Prince Zuko, who must have given up his career as the perfect sculpture for at one point he fell asleep curled up like everybody else.

The sun was just beginning to rise. "Up!" He barked again.

Obediently standing up, they were led out of the hut and into a heavily guarded city. _Wonder where they got all that dirt…_Sokka thought when they had been led through the second wall of dirt. It reminded them of the North Pole except it was dirt and not ice.

Once they had gone through that gate, the group was greeted by a very busy market place but it came to a stop when everybody saw the guards and who they were escorting. As the guards walked through, the citizens parted to allow the guards threw. Much whispering spread through the crowd as they walked. After what felt like a whole century, a guard ordered the others to stop. "Park awaits in there," said the guard before stepping aside to let the other guards lead Aang and friends—and enemy—into the large building made entirely of stone and mud but there were huge windows to let light in, so the pace looked semi-friendly.

"Park!" Called out one of the guards, "We have some kids who wish to join us against the Fire Nation. What is your choice?"

A brown haired man in his mid-twenties walked in. As soon as he stepped in, everybody bowed, including their captives after a second. He walked up to the guards. "Please step aside. I wish to get a look at them before deciding." The guards stepped aside enough so Park could look at them. "Ah, dressed for Victory Week?" His thick eyebrows rose in mock surprise. "Isn't that devotion to the Fire Nation?"

"Our parents made us. They let us chose for us." Zuko said before Sokka or Katara could fabricate a lie of their own.

"Really?" Park cocked an eyebrow. He didn't believe them. "Bring the seeds. We'll find out the easy way." He snapped his fingers. Right on cue, a little man came running in with a potted plant. "Thank you." He took the plant. "You have a choice to either eat this or have your memory erased and tossed out into the wild."

"We'll go with the first one." Sokka said.

"All right then. If you're lying, you will be killed." Park warned as he plucked off a neon purple pod from the vivid green plant. He handed it back to the little man that gave it to him. "This won't taste very good," he warned as he casually squeezed the pod to release the orange seeds. ((This plant has fashion issues…)) "You'll be telling nothing but the truth for an hour." He had squeezed out five seeds that were the size of the pinky nail. He gave them to one of the guards.

The guard that took the seeds turned to her first victim, Aang. She didn't even hand it to him; she just walked up to him and forced his mouth open to shove the little seed in. Aang gagged once it went down his throat. He didn't even chew it but he could taste the bitterness exploding about in his mouth. The process was repeated to the others. Zuko almost fought back as a reflex but managed to prevent his fist from flying into her stomach.

"Are we ready then?"

"Yes," came the answer from the group. It sounded almost rushed as if they wanted to tell Park that bit of information for years.

"Good. You," he started with Katara. "I want to know this first: What kind of bender are you?"

"Water," answered Katara in the rushed fashion again. Her eyebrows furrowed; she didn't like the way she was answering the questions.

The man nodded. "Are you any good?" He was amused at her facial expression.

"Yes. I'm a Master."

He looked doubtful now. "And what's your name?"

"Katara."

Park's eyebrows twitched angrily. "Uh-huh…" he nodded skeptically. "Master Katara, then?"

"Yes."

He snorted, "And I suppose this boy dressed as Sokka is your brother?"

"I am." He answered, unable to stop himself because of the little plant.

"Sokka? The Great Faker?"

"Yes."

Park was getting angry. These people were dead and the plant never fails. "And let me guess," he turned to Haru, "You're the Earth Demon Haru, right?"

He nodded, "yes."

"Then where are your fangs?"

"I'm fifteen…I didn't get bitten until I was sixteen." That was true according to the book.

"And you're Lord Zuko?" Park turned to Prince Zuko.

"Yes," he nodded.

Park was beginning to think of this as an elaborate hoax. "Well, I think we'll have to dig five graves tonight unless this kid here can show us he's Avatar Aang. But we all know that's not true since we have that little Knyght, Kita, as the Avatar and she's a waterbender; the next one in the cycle."

"I am Avatar Aang," Aang said this with a slight chirp. "I can prove it if you want."

The guards laughed. "Okay, show us _Avatar Aang_." Park put sarcasm in his voice and even more when he said Aang's respected name.

He shrugged. "Okay. Stand back, this one's fun." The boy was fully confident that this trick would save their lives so he was going to enjoy it. Summoning up an orb of air, he hopped on and weaved through the guards on the air scooter; laughing his head off of course.

"Our lives are on the line and he's goofing around?" Zuko asked regardless of the empty shell feeling. Truth seeds could do that.

Sokka shrugged. "He's Aang. It's what he does."

"An airbender!" Park exclaimed. He turned to the guards. "Is this a joke?"

"Nope!" Aang chirped and got off the air scooter. "Watch!" He spotted Katara's canteen. "Hope you don't mind, Katara." Aang took a deep breath and summoned the water from Katara's canteen. He tossed the water from hand-to-hand as if it were a slinky.

More gasps were heard. "H-H-How can that be? Avatar Kita!" A guard exclaimed.

"Do I look like a girl?" Aang asked. "I'm the Avatar and I ate that seed. It tasted pretty bad down the way."

"How can you be the Avatar?" Park demanded. "Avatar Aang died fifteen years ago!"

They shrugged. "Avatar Kita was saying something about time travel." Sokka said simply but hated himself. He wouldn't have said something as stupid as that if it weren't for the truth seed.

Park sighed. "This has to be the craziest story I've ever heard. Time travel…we must have done something to piss of the Spirits."

"Don't worry; it's the craziest one we've ever heard too." Aang said smiling, still playing with the water like a slinky.

Again, Park sighed. "This is all the proof we have. I still think you're playing the most excessive practical joke but not even Faker could do that. You really do seem to be the Avatar. Are you going to harm us when we release you?"

"No." All said in unison.

"Good. Release them." He waved his hand carelessly.

The guards did as they were told. They had no worries; that truth seed was still going strong.

----!Do The Page Break Dance!----

"Aren't you going to eat something, Zuko?" Aang asked, cocking his head to the side.

"I'm not very hungry." Zuko's tone was of annoyance.

"Suit yourself," shrugged Sokka.

Aang frowned. He knew Zuko had been trying to kill him and that would be a logical reason to not like him but the exiled prince had eaten little to nothing for a week now. "At least drink something."

Zuko glared and took a small sip from his cup. "There. Happy?" He growled. "I'm going for a walk." He got up and left the room to attempt to enjoy the evening air.

Aang's frowned deepened. "I'm not too hungry either." He set his food down. "I'm gonna go check on Appa, okay?"

"Have fun," Katara said smiling, figuring Aang wanted some alone time. She frowned once he left.

"What's wrong?" Haru asked.

Katara was about to open her mouth to answer when Sokka suddenly jumped. "Sokka?"

He blinked. "I don't know. I just got this sudden feeling."

"What kind of feeling?" Katara asked, cocking her head to the side like Aang; something she picked up from him.

"Like something's going to happen."

"Instincts again?" She asked with a slight smirk.

"I don't know." He went back to his food feeling a little confused.

Zuko knew nothing of Aang dismissing himself or the weird feeling Sokka received. He only knew that he wanted to go out into the forest for more alone time to think about a way to end his life. (((Ducks for cover from the Zuko fans) Eek!)) It had been a slow and boring week. Peasants running up him and the other peasants he was stuck with once word got out that Aang had returned. It happened once, it could happen again. That's what they were saying. The only thing that was amusing was Sokka's face when young men would stare at Katara. He also noticed Haru and Aang's faces but they kept those faces a little more hidden than Sokka's I'm-going-to-do-more-than-gut-you-with-a-rusty-knife face. _Oh yah, and Sokka's fan girls._ Zuko reminded himself, thinking that to be of the most ridiculous of all.

He found his usual tree; a weeping willow. It looked out of place compared to all of the other towering trees with stiff branches and leaves and he felt like it: Out of place and maybe crying. _But that's weakness._ He thought every time he would sit under it. He sighed. The only way he could think of ending his miserable life was through his wrists since his dreams weren't helpful. Every time his dream would hint to a creative way it was quickly ended by him waking up to the smell of something burning. Thus he would wake up but there was nothing burning, leaving him confused and wide awake. Although, deep down inside somewhere, he told himself the dreams was an excuse for not ending his life already.

"That's it." He looked up and grabbed a sharp looking twig. He rolled his sleeves up. Park had told him that he should probably change into clothes that the Earth Kingdom wore while they searched for the Fire Nation clothes he preferred. True; they hated the Fire Nation but not those who tried to prevent it from becoming a tyrannical nation like Zuko did according to those books.

The poor boy did not enjoy wearing green but it was all he could wear for now. He decided to start with his left wrist. Just as he was about to press it to his wrist, the stick burst into flame. "What the—?" He dropped it and leapt back even though there was no room to. Instead of causing the thickly covered ground of dead leaves below to ignite, it went out. The air was filled with the smell of burnt wood. Suddenly Zuko felt very lethargic and slumped back against the tree seeing mist creep into his vision and feeling only confusion and nothing else until a very loud voice reached his ears.

"_Zuko!_" Roared the voice. It sounded familiar. "How dare you attempt such a thing!" The swirling gray mist around him became very hot and that was uncomfortable considering that it was everywhere so Zuko was standing in it. "You have been given a second chance to live! Do not throw that away!" A familiar shadow was seen in the mist.

"Uncle…?" Zuko's eyes widened.

His uncle emerged from the mist and was standing in front of him. He was in his usual garb but his face was not set in the usual thinking face. Zuko gave his uncle a deep bow and kept his eyes on the ground. It was only a dream but Zuko felt as if it were real. His uncle sighed and the mist suddenly cooled. "Stand up straight, Zuko. I want to get a better look at you." His voice was returning to its usual gentleness.

Zuko did as he was told.

"You haven't been eating, I can see that."

Zuko was feeling an odd mixture of emotions. He was happy yet sad to see his uncle. The part that saddened him was that his uncle was dead and this was only a dream. He blinked. _It's just the mist._ He thought and blinked again. He didn't know what to say.

"Before you ask, it was me who made the stick ignite and I was also the one who has been waking you up before you got any ideas." The mist heated up again.

Zuko's eyes widened a little more.

"You're still under the tree physically."

"But…how?" He was very confused now. "Y-You're dead. You died. I was told how…" he stopped, not wanting to dwell on it.

"I admit that having my ashes buried under bison waste isn't the best thing to happen to your body but there is more than just the physical body to worry about."

Zuko's attention snapped back to his uncle. "You're not angered about it or—"

He laughed. "Of course I was angry but not as angry when I saw what they were doing to you and your friends."

Zuko stiffened at the thought of _them_ being his friends.

"If one dies with enough anger and determination, they will stay tethered to the earth until they complete what they want." Zuko remained speechless, so his uncle continued. "When you had died, a Spirit told me your journey hadn't finished yet and it seems it hasn't." He smiled. "Did this new Avatar show you your supposed history?"

He nodded.

Zuko was about to say something but his uncle stopped him. "You should probably wake up now."

Zuko's eyes burst open. He looked around. The sun was just starting to sink behind the mountains. The smells of dirt and wildflowers drifted around him but there was something else that reached his nose and it didn't fit. Jasmine tea. Zuko wiped his face and sighed, slumping against the tree again. "This can't be healthy." He muttered. "And it was just a dream…"

Foot steps reached his ears.

"I don't know, Momo. I don't really like being in the Earth Kingdom much. It's nice but it doesn't feel like we're doing much." Aang's voice reached Zuko's ears. He quickly looked around and darted to a stronger looking tree, pulled himself up enough to make it look as if he was doing a pull up. Just in time too because Aang walked into view.

"Oh, hi, Zuko!" He waved.

"Hi," Zuko grunted and let himself drop to the ground.

Aang knew Katara and the others would not be pleased to know he was alone with Zuko but he decided to strike a conversation up instead of making up an excuse about needing to head back. "So, feeling any better?" He asked with his usual big smile.

"What made you think I wasn't feeling well to begin with?" His voice was, of course, guarded.

"You just seemed more grouchy than usual." The lemur on his shoulder stared him with it's giant green eyes.

Zuko glared. "I'll see you later." He headed back to what was left of the Earth Kingdom.

Aang frowned, "Wait! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Let's try something else! Was it just me, or did it smell like jasmine tea back there?"

Zuko stopped. "You smelt it too?" He asked before stopping himself. _I thought the truth seeds wore off!_ He scolded himself for blurting the question out.

"Yah! Must be the flowers but I didn't see any jasmine flowers either and I know nobody would be stupid enough to cook something this close to the city."

"Yah," Zuko nodded, wanting to return to the city now so he could be alone and think about what just happened. "I'm going back to the city now—"

"I'll come with you. It's getting dark and I don't think they'll let us in once the sun's set."

Zuko muttered something but didn't object. _This is torture!_ He thought angrily, wanting to punch something.

"So, you have a favorite color or something?"

"No."

"Favorite animal?"

"No."

"Erm…bending technique?"

Zuko stopped and gave Aang the most hateful look he could muster.

"Eh, I guess we could talk about something else." Aang said with a little nervousness. "Well, we could talk about the weather. I like it when it's sunny with clouds. Those are fun to fly through. You?"

"Thunderstorms when the rain's falling hard enough it's like hail and thunder comes at the exact time as the lightning. That answer your question?" He snapped.

"Oh." It reminded Aang of the night he ran away so that was most likely not his ideal weather. "I don't like them that much but everybody has their own thing."

Zuko grunted. He wanted this boy out of his hair. "That's nice." He said coldly. "What a shame, looks like our conversation's been cut short. See you tomorrow." Zuko was full of sarcasm as he said this at the city walls.

"Oh! Oh! Lemme try!" Aang jumped up and down as the guards on the walls readied to open the walls. "I've been practicing!" He said proudly and managed to open the walls just enough to let him and Zuko in.

"Amazing," Zuko said with more sarcasm and walked in.

"Thanks!" Aang called out. "Well, see ya, Zuko!" Aang waved and turned around.

"Finally," Zuko sighed in relief and headed for his new room, hoping the Earth Kingdom had found him a Fire Nation outfit and not the peasant ones he wore.

Aang decided to explore the market place. He much rather to go out and explore outside the city but it was almost dark now and he wouldn't be let it once the sun had gone down completely. "Katara!" Aang called out, spotting Katara looking at some jewelry.

"Aang!" She waved back. "Where'd you go? I thought you went to just visit Appa."

"I went for a walk." He shrugged. "I opened the walls all by myself," he boasted, striking a pose. Katara laughed. "How's teaching the waterbenders?"

"It's okay. I've got another class tonight." She shook her head, "They're really glad to have us here now."

"Wow…you're working a lot harder than me or Haru."

"You wish." Haru joined them. "He said he was going to start teaching us at night as well."

"What?" Aang groaned. "We go from six A.M. to noon and now it's going to be at night?"

Haru shrugged. "He wants us in a private class too. You're the Avatar, he wants to make sure you master everything. I think—" Just then, Sokka rushed by them and dived behind a stand. "What's the matter, Sokk—"

"Shh! Don't let them know I'm here!" Sokka hissed.

"Faker!" A girl called out.

"Where are you?"

"Hey! There's his little sister! Mistress of Water!" A group of girls ran up to her. "Have you seen your brother?"

Katara fought down her laughter. Sokka had his own little fan club. Only the younger kids went after Aang because he was only twelve. The older girls were chasing Sokka because he was fifteen; much closer to the marriage age. "No. Sorry." She shook her head.

"Aww…" they slumped down. "Thanks anyway." They all chirped in unison and bowed before running off.

"Is it just me or does it freak you out how they do almost everything at the same time?" Haru asked, turning to Katara, forgetting about what he was going to say.

"It freaks me out even more!" Sokka jumped out from the stand. "Thanks for letting me hide there again."

"No problem." Shrugged the shop keeper and turned to Katara. "Are the bracelets to your liking?" He asked Katara.

"Yes." She nodded. "I'll buy this one." She held up a blue bracelet with the stages of the moon engraved with silver on it.

"On the house, Mistress of Water."

"Oh, thank you." Katara bowed.

The man returned the bow. "Thank you ma'am; I am honored to have my jewelry appeal to you."

"Mistress of Water!" A little boy ran up to Katara. "It's almost time for you to start teaching waterbending."

Katara gave up on getting people to call her by her original name like the others. The only one who was addressed by their birth name was Zuko but only because he was one of the few firebenders in the city and many left him alone, not wanting to anger him. "Okay, okay," she smiled at the little boy. "I'll see you guys later." She said and walked off leaving the boys alone.

"See yah, Katara." They said. "Now what?" Asked Sokka.

"There he is!" Yelled a girl, pointing at Sokka.

"Crap! Gotta go. See yah!" He ran off as the girls chased after him.

Aang and Haru laughed as Sokka turned a corner. "What do you think they're gonna do when they get him?" Aang asked.

Haru smirked, "Who knows? I don't think I want to find out."

"Whatever it is, I think they should be glad Yue didn't seem to be the possessive type or they'd be doomed." Aang said, laughing. Since it had been a week, both Haru and the others, minus Zuko, filled each other in about their recent events.

"I think I feel sorry for _them _now."

----!omygoshsokkahasfangirlswhodidseethatonecomming!----

Sokka was out for a walk. It was quiet and cold, but not as cold as the South or North Pole. He was glad to be away from the fan girls. Sighing, he could see his breath, Sokka stretched. "Man, it hasn't ever been this quiet for a long time." The Water Tribesman continued his walk, hearing only the crunching of twigs and dead leaves and his own thoughts. _I wonder who we can have teach Aang firebending…He's mastered air, Katara's teaching him water in their spare time and he's learning earth. I'm not going to have Zuko teach him._ He thought with much stubbornness. He sighed again. "This is too good to be true. Something's going to happen that'll ruin my day."

He stopped to stare into the foggy morning when crunching twigs reached his ears. Sokka pulled out his boomerang and jumped into a defensive position. He realized who it was but that didn't stop him from returning to a normal posture. It was Zuko. He stopped once he spotted Sokka. "I hope you aren't thinking of defeating me with that toy."

_Yup. Something just did. _Sokka glared. "What are you dong out here? Trying to find an escape route?"

Zuko was now in Fire Nation clothes even though he had little intention to return to the Fire Nation. For the moment. "What are you doing out here?"

"Walking. I can do what I want."

"So can I." Zuko replied. He continued on his way, which was where Sokka had planned on going.

Sokka continued his glare and turned to his left instead when he heard something that sounded like somebody tripping. Sokka turned around, ready to laugh at Zuko for falling on his face. Only problem was that Zuko managed to land on his hands and jump on his feet to stare at what he tripped at. "What…" Sokka trailed off and looked down.

Zuko tripped over a sword. A very big sword.

"Why does that look like Kita's sword?" Asked Sokka.

"Because it _is_ Kita's sword," Zuko snapped.

Sokka walked over to it and bent down to pick it up. "Jeez is this heavy!" He gasped and managed to lift it up. "She has to have a second spine or something," he propped it up on its tip and looked at it. Zuko did too. "Something's wrong," he looked at the broken strap. Zuko lifted it for a better look. "Blood."

Zuko let go of the strap and was looking around. He didn't care for Sokka much but if something had managed to tear away a sword of this size this was obviously something that was a threat. "Any tracks are gone; too many leaves." He muttered.

Sokka looked up. "That doesn't look natural." He said this, pointing out a small bump in the ground that was covered up in leaves.

Zuko glanced at Sokka to see if he was heading for it. He wasn't. Walking up to it a little slowly, Zuko nudged it with the toe of his boot. It didn't feel like a log as he thought it to be. His eyebrows rose before he started to brush the leaves off with his foot. Sokka saw it and let the giant sword fall to the ground before taking the few required steps to her limp body. "I she dead?"

"I don't know. She didn't respond to you dropping her sword." Zuko answered honestly. They both crouched down. Sokka was the one who made the hesitant motion to check her pulse.

"She has one. It's weak." He grabbed her by her arm to pick her up. Sokka didn't look up to Zuko for help but the prince thought it was a little pathetic to see Sokka struggle with lifting her up. He bent down and lifted her up by her other arm. He realized why it was a little difficult. Her armor looked light but it wasn't. "I hope she's not an Earth Demon…" Sokka muttered.

Zuko opened her mouth. No fangs. "No." He answered. Her skin was so pale it was almost as light as salt. Her skin was slippery from sweat, her hair that was normally washed looked dead, stuck to her face and she seemed to have little knowledge of what a brush was. "You get her sword." Zuko ordered.

Sokka opened his mouth to object but Zuko's glare stopped him. Sokka let go of Kita's arm and Zuko faltered a little from the sudden loss of support. Sokka managed to pick the sword up. "I guess the only place to take her is the Earth Kingdom."

"I just can't wait to see the smiles on their faces." Sokka muttered sarcastically.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
**End of Chapter Three  
**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ma-an was that long. Ah well. Hope you enjoyed n.n Yah, I know people are probably gonna attack me about Kita's armor but some old guy who played that bad guy in _Galaxy Quest_ was wearing stuff that was heavier than what knights wore and you saw how easy he moved! Okay. I'm done being defensive n.n Review. No flames; as usual. ((Is out of hot sauce for that stuff))

PS  
There will be more Uncle Iroh appearing; no worries Iroh fans.


	4. Little Book

'Ello folks!

**Disclaimer:** No ownership for Pete's Sake…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
**Chapter Four: Little Book  
**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

They had dragged Kita to the Earth Kingdom to be surrounded by guards as she was carried into Park's home. "We will go send for the others." Park said to them before ordering some female guards to change Kita's clothing. "The worst thing you can do to a firebender is give them loose clothing." Park said with a smirk and looked at the still unconscious Kita. She now wore a very loose, light green dress that had very large sleeves that would hang down to the ground if she stood and a dark green sash was tied around her waist.

Zuko nodded, agreeing with that. "Are you going to wake her up?" Sokka asked, eyeing Kita. She hadn't been given a pillow or anything of comfort except for the peasant outfit. Her armor and weapons had been confiscated and stored in a heavily guarded warehouse.

"We are not going to kill her or let her die if that's what you're worried about. We'll hold her as ransom and order the Fire Nation to pull their troops away from our city completely. That's one possibility. We're still thinking of others."

"We should at least force some water into her," Sokka suggested, "she looks pretty dehydrated." He was right; Kita's lips were cracked and bleeding.

Park nodded and turned to a guard. "Force some water into her." The guard nodded. "Anything else we should do?"

"I think you should wake her up." Sokka said, "So we can get answers from her. She's too weak to fight," he said before Park could protest.

Again, Park nodded. "We will wake her once Avatar Aang, Mistress of Water and Earth Demon are here." He bowed, "I will go and find a plant that will awaken Avatar Kita." He walked off.

Sokka sighed half angrily, half just for the sake of sighing. Zuko did the same. The guards remained silent and stood around Kita. They were still as statues; a set of guards faced inwards to watch Kita and another set of guards faced outwards, making them back-to-back. There was one guard kneeling by Kita and she was currently squeezing water into her mouth.

Zuko leaned against the wall, wishing he had a book. _There has to be something to do around this city. Teaching pathetic peasants firebending is stupid. They can hardly do anything._ Zuko was recently assigned teaching firebending for he had nothing better to do. Sokka had been told to teach others how to fake bending for anybody who was not a bender. _It's better than having him teach them martial arts,_ he thought with some amusement, referring to Sokka. Zuko's mind began drift to the history books when the sound of a heavy door opening interrupted those thoughts.

"Sokka, what's going on?" Katara asked as he walked in.

"They found Kita," Sokka answered, "Where is Park?"

"Right here." Park stepped in and was carrying two plants: The vividly colored truth plant stood out compared to the dull green plant. The guards parted as Park stepped up he handed the plants to a guard before removing a small flower from the dull colored plant. He knelt down and opened her mouth and then placed the small flower in it. He shut her jaw.

As soon as Kita's jaw was shut, she bolted up and her face and body language showed that she was struggling to not swallow yet wanting to swallow at the same time. After a minute or so of that, Kita had forced it down and started to cough a deep and coarse cough. "What…the—"

Park took this chance to shove an orange seed down her throat. This only increased Kita's gagging. "Are you Avatar Kita?" Was the first question.

"Aye—!" Kita coughed.

"Are you strong enough to answer any other questions?"

"I'm not sure." Kita replied, still coughing. "What the heck did you do?"

"Revived you. Lord Zuko and Faker found you unconscious earlier this morning." Park replied.

"Ah. Give them me thanks." The coughing finally ended, "Can I have something to drink before I keel over?" Kita asked. Her voice was very dry and raspy.

"Fine," Park snapped his fingers to let a guard know he could get her water. "Do you remember who attacked you?"

"Aye…" Kita blinked, feeling a little dizzy.

"Who or what?"

"An Earth Demon." She had answered in the same rushed fashion as Katara had done a week ago.

Park's eyebrows rose. "And Earth Demon? Here?"

"Aye," Kita nodded but stopped considering that it made her dizzier.

"Here, Park," the guard returned with a glass of water. Park handed it to Kita, who drained the glass in a matter of seconds.

"The Earth Demon," Park began, "Did he say anything? Why was he here?"

"I can't remember much of what he said except for his annoying laugh, if that counts. I was looking for him. They kidnapped Master Akeo." Kita answered. _Accursed truth seeds._ She thought angrily.

Park's eyebrows rose. "Master Akeo? The one who was supposed to teach you earthbending?"

"Aye," Kita sounded a little annoyed.

"Why did he kidnap Master Akeo? How?"

"He's an Earth Demon. Probably searching for recruits or trying to get me killed." Kita blinked, "I'm starting to feel really dizzy—"

"I just have one more question." Park said, "Are you going to try to run away?"

"Aye."

Park stood up, "Take her somewhere to rest but first give her something to eat. Also, get a doctor and be sure to it she is followed where ever she goes."

The guards nodded and carried the half-conscious Kita away. "So why were we needed?" Aang asked after a moment.

"To merely show you the Avatar of our time," answered Park. "You may talk to her if you want to but she seems too weak for now." He bowed, "you're dismissed of your duties for today."

They bowed in return and watched Park leave. "This is great…" Sokka sighed sarcastically.

"What do you think's gonna happen?" Aang asked, "Do you think the Earth Demons want to kill her so they can get an earthbender as the Avatar?" Aang was referring to the next element in the cycle; earth.

"Maybe," Katara shrugged, "Well, we don't have anything to do now. Park just said we have the day off. We've already explored most of the city."

"We don't have to take the day off." Haru said with a shrug.

"I guess…we really don't have anything better to do." Sokka said, agreeing.

"You guys go do that; I'm going to research Earth Demons." Zuko turned on his heel and headed for the outside.

"That sounds like a good idea! I'll come too!" Aang followed Zuko out.

Zuko was about to protest but Katara beat him to it. "I think Zuko can do it on his own," she said.

"I guess…but I wanna learn more about the Earth Demons. You should too, Haru." He chirped, "It might help you learn more about your history and all."

Haru shrugged again. "I guess." ((He's so decisive, eh?))

"Then I guess we could all go." Aang said happily.

Zuko was not happy about this arrangement. The only thing keeping him from saying "On second thought, I'll go meditate instead of hanging with you losers" was knowledge on a powerful enemy. Heading for the town library, Zuko noticed that they were actually being left alone for once. He was grateful for that. They reached the library to see only a few people sitting in the dusty corners.

"Excuse me," Katara said to a man behind the desk, "Could you please tell us where we can find books on Earth Demons?"

"Yes, right this way Mistress of Water," the man walked out from the desk, limping slightly, and led them to a shelf right by a window. "We have few books on Earth Demons. Is it a story you're searching for?"

"More like information."

He nodded and looked up to the top of the shelf. He was a tall man, so getting the book was easy. It was a thin book. "Here you are, Mistress of Water. I hope this is what you were looking for." He bowed and limped off.

"I'll take it; you guys go look up other things." Zuko held his hand out, waiting for Katara to hand him the book.

"Oh, c'mon, Zuko." Aang folded his arms, "You're stuck with us. At least try to pretend you're getting along with us. Please?" Aang didn't bother with the puppy-eyes because he knew Zuko would never fall for it and it would probably have the opposite affect Aang desiered.

Zuko reluctantly agreed and followed them to a table to sit and read the book. Katara opened the book as Aang and Haru sat next to her. Sokka and Zuko were left to read over her shoulder. "Wow…this book is old," Aang commented. It seemed older than the little room Kita had shown them a week ago. "I wonder if they'll mention you, Haru."

"Maybe," he, once again, shrugged. "If it's that old. I guess we start with the introduction?"

"It's just talking about the guy who wrote this and why he wrote it." Sokka said, "Turn the page."

Katara rolled her eyes and turned the page. Table of contents. The first chapter spoke of where and how Earth Demons lived, the second was about how to become one and symptoms of an Earth Demon. "We'll probably want to borrow the book…" Aang suggested as they began to read the first chapter.

After many hours of reading, the group had only made it to the second chapter considering the reading speed of the others and occasional need of the bathroom. "I am sorry," the librarian said bowing, "But you must leave now. The library is closing."

"Oh, that's okay." Katara stood up, nearly hitting Sokka in the face. "May we borrow the book?"

"Of course. Have a good evening." He said, bowing again as they left.

"We'll have to read together again?" Zuko groaned, "Why not somebody reads and just take notes? That way we don't have to read a bunch of useless information on what Earth Demons like to wear."

"All right," Aang nodded in agreement, "Who wants to read and take the notes?"

"I will. I did become one of those things." Haru said, raising his hand a little.

"All right," Katara said nodding, "I guess we should go check on Kita. Maybe she's feeling better?"

"Who knows?" Sokka shrugged, more worried about the fact that there was an Earth Demon running around the area. "She's as good as dead considering that it mentioned Earth Demons never give up."

"You guys can go visit her, then. I'm not that interested." Sokka said, waving his hand.

"Suit yourself. I'll race you guys!" Aang began to run towards the town center aka Park's house. ((Even if it isn't in the center of the town…))

"Hey! No fair!" Katara laughed and chased after Aang. Haru joined the race laughing, leaving Sokka and Zuko alone.

"If you're going to try to start a nice conversation, don't count on it." Zuko snapped at Sokka and quickened his pace.

"Since when has anything nice involved you?" Sokka snapped back, keeping his regular walking pace. "Stupid bastard…I still can't believe I died saving him. Ungrateful…" he continued to mutter more insults until he realized he arrived at Park's residence. _I guess I _will_ go see if Kita's alive…_Sokka thought as he slid the door open and stepped in. "Excuse me," Sokka headed towards a guard, "Could you please tell me where Avatar Kita is?"

"I am sorry; your other friends had come by just a few minutes ago and asked the same question. She is still asleep." The guard bowed, "Although, Park is requesting for you and your friends to join him at dinner."

"Oh, uh…okay. When?" The only time Park had requested them to join him at dinner was the first night they came and it was to welcome them to what was left of the Earth Kingdom.

"Once the sun sets," he answered.

"All right. Thanks." Sokka bowed. He had plenty more hours for that. He guessed the others might have run off to eat lunch instead. Amazingly he wasn't hungry but that might have had something to do with what he read on the Earth Demons. _I wonder if they still have their appetite…_the warrior wondered as he walked out of the building and into the city. Deciding to use his time for something meaningful, he headed to the small shrine that the waterbenders of the city had set up. He knew that Yue was watching over him and would probably hear any prayer he said but he felt closer to her in the shrine.

Katara, Aang and Haru were not at a shrine. They were currently heading out of the city to practice some bending. Katara was going to continue Aang's waterbending lessons and Haru was going to read the book and take notes for the others. "What do you think Park wants?" Aang asked as they walked past a very small firebending class. There were only eight people. Half of them were little kids and the other half were teenagers that looked rather annoyed; they preferred Zuko as their teacher.

"I don't know," Haru said, shifting the paper into the hand that also held the book. "It must be important if he's doing this all of a sudden. It probably has to do with Kita."

"I guess," Aang also shrugged, "Hey, Katara, can you teach me that awesome thing you said you did to Zuko? When you trapped him in that huge ice ball?"

"Maybe later, Aang. You still need to master turning things in to ice while it isn't moving before you can do that." She said with a smirk.

"Aww…" Aang looked at Momo, who was currently resting on his shoulder. "I'm ready, right Momo?"

The lemur merely blinked before jumping onto Katara's shoulder. "See? Even Momo agrees with me."

----weallliveinayellowpagebreakayellowpagebreak---

Rather pale and sickened from what he had recently recorded; Haru decided he'd only eat if he caught a concerned expression from any of his friends. "Hey, Haru, are you all right?" Aang asked as they headed for Park's meeting.

"What? Oh, yah, I'm fine."

"I don't know you look a little pale." Aang pressed.

"I'm fine. Really." He added just a tad of force in his voice.

"Haru, did it have anything to do with the Earth Demon book?" Katara asked, folding her arms.

"No," he shifted the notes a little, "I think I'm just tired."

"Okay…" Aang and Katara didn't believe him but did not press any further.

"Let's talk about something fun," Aang said after a moment of awkward silence. "We could try to invent a new sport."

"Maybe," Katara shrugged. "I just wonder what we're going to do. If we leave the city, except for that lake but it's guarded pretty well, we're at risk of getting captured by the Fire nation." Her mind wasn't exactly set on sports.

"Then why'd they let Zuko and Sokka out?" Haru asked, lurching forward to catch an ink bottle that slipped out of his grip.

"Probably cuz of their history and it was really foggy." Aang said. "Hey, Katara, do you think you could bend fog? Isn't that water like the clouds?"

"I've thought about it. When we ride Appa again I'll give it a try."

They walked past the guards into their current home. "I'll go put this stuff in my room. I'll catch up with you guys in a few minutes." Haru said to Katara and Aang before heading to his room. As soon as he reached his room, Haru shuddered, recalling some things from the book.

In the book, they had been portrayed as very nasty creatures. He seemed to be one of the few Earth Demons accepted into society. Although, this was after his teeth were covered with molten silver. The process sounded painful but an Earth Demon's teeth were unbreakable so it was possible. Painful, but possible. That's what Haru was constantly saying to himself from the second he read it. _I hope I don't become an Earth Demon…random urges to kill. I can't believe I had become one. Well, new time, new life and future._ He carefully set the ink bottle down on a small table. Being raised in a village of earthbenders, Haru had learned to never place anything valuable next to something that could spill, so he placed the book and notes on his bed. "I don't think I'll be able to eat even if Katara _does_ look at me." Haru muttered before exiting his room.

He walked down the hall to meet up with Park but wound up crashing right into Zuko. "Oh, sorry."

Zuko looked over his shoulder to see what crashed into him. "Just watch where you're going, peasant."

"Nice to see you too…" Haru muttered sarcastically and then bit his tongue so he wouldn't mention that a peasant, Sokka to specific, had died saving his life.

Zuko and Haru continued on to the dining room, ignoring each other completely. "Hi, Haru, hi Zuko." Aang waved cheerfully as the two entered the room. Haru waved back and Zuko walked on as if Aang wasn't there.

"Where's Park?" Haru asked, taking a seat next to Sokka.

"Don't know," he shrugged, "Probably trying to see if he can interrogate Kita. She's still asleep last I checked. They're thinking she's been poisoned because she's showing signs of some sort of poison—"

"She's not poisoned." Park said, stepping in. "My apologies for being late." He said bowing. "Anyway, no not poisoned, merely exhausted. The guards said that she has been muttering in her sleep but they weren't able to catch most of it.

"Now, I called you here for a reason. I want you five to help me plan an attack on the Fire Nation troops surrounding the area." He put his hand up as a notion for silence before anybody could object, "I know you are inexperienced at the moment but now is a time to give them a try. Any suggestion is welcome. We are planning on showing them Kita at dawn but that is only if you do not have any suggestions. Do you have any?"

The group exchanged glances, even with Zuko.

They shook their heads. They knew they wouldn't kill the Avatar and revealing that they had met up with Kita earlier did not seem wise.

"All right." Park said with a nod, "Showing her to the Fire Nation at dawn it is."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
**End of Chapter Four  
**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kinda short. Ah well. R&R n.n


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